Woy Woy Landfill Gas Abatement Facility

Woy Woy Landfill Gas Abatement Facility is a waste sector project located at the Woy Woy Waste Management Facility on Nagari Road, approximately 4km southwest of the Woy Woy town centre on the New South Wales Central Coast. Registered in August 2013, the project operates within the boundary of the council-managed landfill site. The facility sits at the interface of peri-urban residential areas and the dense bushland of the Brisbane Water National Park, serving as the primary waste disposal site for the southern part of the Central Coast region.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology incentivises the capture of methane, a potent greenhouse gas released during the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste, and its combustion to generate renewable electricity. By converting methane into less harmful carbon dioxide and displacing fossil-fuel-based grid electricity, the project generates Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The facility utilises a gas collection system involving wells and pipes to feed the captured gas into on-site combustion engines.

Environmentally, the Woy Woy region is characterised by a warm temperate climate with high annual rainfall, averaging approximately 1250mm. The natural terrain is typical of the Hawkesbury Sandstone landscape, featuring sandy loams and sandstone-derived soils, although the landfill site itself relies on engineered clay capping to manage leachate and gas containment. The high rainfall in the region can accelerate the decomposition of putrescible waste, thereby influencing gas generation rates.

LMS Energy Pty Ltd, Australia’s largest landfill biogas company, currently operates the project having taken over the proponent role from AGL Energy Services in late 2023. This transition is part of a broader industry trend where specialised bioenergy firms manage gas infrastructure on behalf of local councils. The project has successfully completed a Carbon Abatement Contract with the Commonwealth, delivering 130,000 tonnes of abatement. Recent planning documents for the landfill's "South Cell" expansion indicate that gas management operations will continue to expand to cover new waste deposits, ensuring long-term generation capacity.